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The criminal case against 16 Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog (Rostov Region), accused of extremism, was not fully investigated; the inquiry has been extended, says the answer of the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to the appeal of Russian human rights activists, which was received today by the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot".

The Stavropol Territorial Court in Pyatigorsk has ended the debates of the parties of the prosecution and the defence in the case of the residents of the Neftekumsk District, accused of plotting terror acts. The prosecutors have asked for the punishment for the defendants in the form of 22, 24 and 25 years in prison.

In the village of Liman, Astrakhan Region, five persons were hurt by a collapse of a two-storey residential house; three of them were hospitalized.

The Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has reported about presentation of charges to a member of the armed grouping in Dagestan of committing a number of very grave crimes, including the murder of five hunters in February 2012.

Today, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow has once again found that the refusal of investigators to institute criminal proceedings against the officers who commanded the operation of liberating the hostages from the Dubrovka Theatrical Centre in 2002 was illegal.

Tonight, residents of Abkhazia felt two tremors. According to the State Committee for Ecology and Use of Nature, the maximum amplitude of the first shock was 5.2, and the second one was much weaker. However, people are afraid of a new earthquake.

Today, the Kabardino-Balkarian Agricultural University (KBAU) said farewell to Boris Zherukov, its Rector, who was shot dead by unidentified persons on December 25 in his office.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun" (ARFD) Party has decided not to nominate its candidate for the presidential election in Armenia, Agvan Vardanyan, the Secretary of the ARFD Party, said at today's press conference.

The Russia's Ministry of Justice has put the movie "Innocence of Muslims" on the federal list of materials deemed as extremist.

In 2012, in total, 98 families – or 452 persons – came from Syria to Adygea; 346 of them remained in the republic; the remaining immigrants went to other North-Caucasian regions; some have returned to Syria, Asker Shkhalakhov, the chairman of the of the Committee of the Republic of Adygea for Nationalities, Relations with Compatriots and Media, said today.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia has finished preparation of the materials for accusing the former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili of organizing beatings of prisoners in Gldani Prison No. 8.

Today, the Supreme Court of Dagestan has considered a compliant lodged by the advocate of the anaesthetist Marat Gunashev, accused of involvement in the murder of the Chief of Police in Makhachkala, and upheld the decision of the Lenin District Court of Makhachkala on the extension of Gunashev's custody until January 27, 2013.

Abdurakhman Abakarov, a resident of the village of Shamkhal, who had been considered as kidnapped, was kept at the Centre for Combating Extremism, where he had been taken for questioning. Now Abakarov is at large, said his advocate Israpil Gadadov.

Among the versions of the murder of the rector of the Kabardino-Balkarian State Agrarian University (KBSAU) Boris Zherukov, his professional activities are considered. Law enforcement officials do not exclude that militants could be involved in the crime.

Today, the Conservative Party of Armenia, a member of the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC), has declared its withdrawal from the ANC. The decision was made after the former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the leader of the ANC, refused to take part in the presidential election on February 18, 2013.

As reported by the Prosecutor's Office of the Volgograd Region, the indictment has been approved against Svetlana Konovalova, the former headmistress of School No. 2 in the Octiabrskiy District, who was suspected of taking bribes for helping in passing the unified state examination (USE).

Last night, Catholics in North Ossetia welcomed the Christmas. The Pastoral Mass in Vladikavkaz was attended by about 40 people.

At night on December 24, a fire burst out in the village mosque in Sogratl, Gunib District of Dagestan. As a result, the building of the mosque was completely destroyed; the locals are going to build a new one.

On December 25, Armenia launched the process of nominating presidential candidates; it will last until January 4, said the press service of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

The authorities imposed a complete ban on felling spruce and pine trees in Chechnya; the forests of these trees are guarded round the clock, said the republic's Department of Forestry. However, people can easily by live spruces in the streets of major cities and towns; they are brought to Chechnya from neighbouring regions.